


Who Tells Your Story

by ilove_klance



Series: Who lives, who dies, who tells your story [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dead Peter, F/M, Family, Gen, Harley is a good son, Mentions of Death, Morgan is a good daughter, Pepper is a good wife, Peter’s Birthday, Sad Tony, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 13:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30056181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilove_klance/pseuds/ilove_klance
Summary: Nine years have passed. Morgan is 14, Harley 26, Tony is 61, and Pepper is 53. They are living at the lake and lead a good life for the most part. Until August 10 comes this year and everything falls to hell for a week and Tony needs his family. Lucky for him, his family will bend over backwards to help.
Relationships: Morgan Stark & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Harley Keener, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts
Series: Who lives, who dies, who tells your story [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2210862
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	1. Who Tells Your Story - Pepper

**Author's Note:**

> TW: hints towards depression, catatonic phases
> 
> You should probably read Who Lives, Who Dies before you read this, it’ll likely make a lot more sense seeing as they are directly related.

Pepper gently shook awake the 14 year old girl, quietly commanding FRIDAY to draw the curtains.

Morgan groaned as she turned over, practically smacking Pepper in the face on accident. "Mom~" she complained.

"C'mon baby, today really isn't the day to do this. We have to get through today without any complications and we have to- _have to_ support dad and everything he is going through, ok?" Pepper chided softly.

Morgan shot up from her laying position. _It was that day already?_

Every year, August 10, Tony had a day where he just _spiraled_. Sometimes he locked himself in the lab, sometimes he couldn't get out of bed, sometimes he needed to be coddled, sometimes he went through hour long rage fits and no one could get near him. And, though the rest of the week wasn't ever nearly as bad as the 10th, it was still bad.

Morgan was only half aware of why that was the specific day Tony spiraled so badly though. As long as Morgan has known her father, he had always been toeing the line of sad. Sure, there were days when Tony was so happy to be spending time with them. But then, like most days, Tony would be in a somber mood, staring off into the distance, looking at certain objects around the house certain ways, and going to a room in the lake house that Morgan was specifically told she was never ever allowed in.

Pepper tried to explain why once, "Your dad had someone very special to him once. In the same way that you are special to him. And he's no longer here now. He passed when you were young, so you probably don't remember him. That room is your dad's way of coping. An exact replica of what daddy's friend's room used to look like."

But Morgan still didn't understand. Morgan was never told she had a brother so obviously this person and her dad weren't blood related. How could her dad care _that_ much?

She asked Pepper that once, on one of Tony's bad days, and her answer came stern and loud, scaring the wits out of Morgan. "This boy was important to your father- was important to me! He went through a lot, a lot you wouldn't understand because of how fortunate you are. So don't you dare assume that just because he wasn't Tony's blood related son, it doesn't mean Tony didn't treat him like it!"

And Morgan never asked about it again.

"Crap, today?" Morgan asked to herself as she hurried out of bed faster than usual to get her clothes on. "But I have school today and Harley has morning classes and an evening shift at the diner."

Pepper nodded from the bedside she was still sitting on, helping Morgan put her books in her bag. "I've got today. This weekend we'll do whatever he wants to do. It's important we make it easy for him, remember. If you need something at school, just text me. I'll get it to you." Pepper checked Morgan over once, brushing her hair down quickly before smiling, "You ready to go eat some breakfast?"

Tony was there as Pepper and Morgan walked through the door bannister, sitting opposite of Harley at the table. There was a bowl of cereal in front of him but it seemed soggy and untouched as he stared off at nothing. It was clear Harley was trying to make everything seem normal, but it was uncomfortable for him.

"Good morning," Morgan cheered enthusiastically, giving Harley a pat on the head and walking over to her dad, giving him a long side hug with a kiss on his forehead. He didn't react to it, so Morgan assumed it was catatonic freak out this time. Those were usually the easiest to handle.

"Harley, did you want anything else for breakfast?" Pepper asked. Any other day she might have commented on the fact that Harley put whipped cream, caramel syrup, and strawberries on his chocolate chip pancakes, but she let it slide for once. (It actually looked really good and she might have tried it with her own pancakes if it didn't look like you were eating an entire 25 pounds in one breakfast.)

When Harley shook his head, Pepper turned to Morgan. "An over easy egg sandwich?" she guessed.

"Mayo on the English muffin, if you could, please," Morgan said with a bright smile.

And that's how breakfast went, relatively silent except for the occasional sizzle of the grill or sounds of Pepper moving around the kitchen to grab things. And then, when Morgan's egg sandwich was done and Pepper was sitting at the table with her low calorie homemade fruit salad, it really was silent.

And Tony still didn't move, just staring out the window with longing eyes as if he were thinking of something.

Breakfast came and went and before even Pepper knew it, Morgan and Harley were done with there breakfast, there plates were cleared and put in the dish washer, and Harley was driving Morgan to school. Pepper finished her last few pieces of pineapple and cleared her's and Tony's stuff as well before getting to her main job.

"C'mon baby, we'll get you to bed after a quick bathroom break. We can just rest today. It's always ok to have a day where we just rest," Pepper reassured, helping Tony up.

They made it to the bathroom alright but the minute Pepper started to lead Tony to their bedroom so he could lay down, he started mumbling and trying to go a different way.

"No, no. Come this way honey. We're resting today, remember?"

The protests only got louder and eventually Pepper allowed Tony to go where he wanted to go, speed walking closely behind to make sure he didn't get hurt on the way.

Pepper was only mildly surprised to see they had ended up stopped in the hallway, outside the rarely touched light blue door. Peter's door. Or, what would be Peter's door if he were here. And behind that door was what would be Peter's room if-

Pepper took Tony's shoulder in her hand gently and lead him closer to the door. "Do you want to rest in Peter's room? Do you want to go in?" she asked softly, slowly.

Tony had the most reaction he has all day towards Peter's name. His eyes glossed over rapidly and he was rushing his movements to get inside the room.

"Peter.." his whine was pained as he walked in, trying to imagine how the boy would have reacted to a room at the Stark's private lake house for the millionth time.

The ceiling and two of the walls were painted blue, Peter favorite color. The other two walls, left and right of the door, were white and covered in the different things Tony discovered Peter _loved_ over the years. Star Wars posters (anything from characters to official pictures, to pictures of a Lightsaber), anime merch everywhere (hoodies, posters, action figures), and pride flags. Not one or two, but _so many_ of them. They were medium sized, but the entire ceiling was filled, row by row, with the pride flags.

Tony remembered the countless hours Tony and Peter took to themselves, just talking about things of that topic. The adversity people like him faced, even now. How brave some well known people were for being so open about their sexuality (something he admired very much because he wouldn't ever have the courage, or so he said). Sometimes, for Peter, it even got to the in depth conversation of _why_ there were labels based on who you loved. Why people couldn't just love who they loved without being 'gay' or 'bisexual' or 'pansexual' or something else.

Tony remembered the hours he took after Peter came out to him to make it well known that his company was LGBTQ+ supportive (of course he always was, but you wouldn't believe the amount of employees who quit because of that). He organized fundraisers, special deals on Stark tech, and charity events, where all the money they earned went to LGBTQ+ friendly businesses. After discovering how tiring it was to do all that, he lowered it to one fundraiser a month and settled on donating money instead.

And then after months of doing that, he held a press conference and outright said he supported the LGBTQ+ community. While he was there he made it clear he supported black women and men, he supported women in power who earned their way there just as men did, and he supported people with disabilities and would always welcome any of them into his tower it they wanted a tour.

Tony lost just about 3,000 customers over that conference but it was well worth it.

"Tony, snap out of it sweetie," Pepper shook him gently, probably for the umpteenth time, as Tony came to from his own mind and looked around again.

"I- I miss him.." Tony muttered under his breath, all choked up with tears.

Pepper nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, bringing Tony into a hug. (Had Pepper brought him to the bed while he was thinking?) "I know you do baby, I know you do. But he was a hero, such a hero that day. He would have never forgiven himself if it went the other way around."

"I let it- it happen.. he was so scared Pep. I swear, he was so scared and then he smiled and told me to choose Morgan and I did- I let it happen-" And just like that, the water works started and Tony was sobbing into Pepper's shoulder.

"He was a hero, baby. He was the best damn hero this family could have asked for."

"I let him- I let it- he died alone and it was all my fault- he _died_ -"

"Peter Parker was a hero, bless his heart."


	2. Who Tells Your Story - Harley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Thursday and after three days of pure grief, Tony is starting to settle down while Harley takes care of him today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: I mean, beer I guess but it’s not like getting drunk, they’re just having a small drink.

Harley was up before anyone else, mostly. He had no classes today and it was his turn to focus on Tony for a day. Despite it never being said out loud, Pepper had him for the 10th - Monday, and the 11th - Tuesday. Morgan had him for Wednesday after calling in sick and promised to take care of him on Friday because she had a half day which means it was past due for Harley to take his turn.

When it was Harley's turn, he went above and beyond. Homemade breakfast, Harley style. Crepes. He went to the store yesterday, got the Nutella Morgan like, the whipped cream he likes, the strawberries, bananas, and peanut butter Tony likes, and the spinach and meat Pepper likes.

But since this was Peter week, he would also make a few of his infamous omelets because he knew how much Tony loved those.

After breakfast he would sit with Tony in the back because Tony needed a little bit of time outside, and then when they went inside, Harley brought Tony one drink of his choice (a strict one drink policy) and Harley and Tony would just talk about him.

Harley remembered a lot about Peter, they had gotten along pretty well after the snap. People often wrote off their friendship because Harley and Peter were only really friends for 2 years before Peter died, and even then they weren't necessarily close in public, but Harley mourned the loss of his friend for almost a year and a half before he pulled his shit together. Pepper had applied him to some colleges after he had taken a break between high school and college (after Peter's death) and never started back up again.

Harley scrubbed his face with the wet rag and threw the cloth into the hamper before brushing his teeth really quickly. He flossed even quicker, and before he knew it he was tip toeing to the kitchen. Thank god everyone in his house was a heavy sleeper because Harley was a loud cooker.

Getting out the two pans he needed, he started up the heat for the egg pan and got out the eggs, pepper, garlic, cheese, and lunch meat. While he was at it, he got out some of the ingredients for crepes at the same time. He was freakishly good at multitasking.

About two splattered eggs on the kitchen counter later, three omelets were successfully made and the batter was done. All he had to do was pour it in his clean pan and let them cook before setting the table and waking everyone up.

"Harley?"

The voice seemingly came out of no where and Harley practically threw a cup of the batter across the kitchen with how startled he was. Harley turned and gave his kind-of father a sheepish smile.

"I was going to come get you guys in a few, but if you want to start eating now that's fine too. I've got all the things you like you crepes set out on the table, too." Harley explained, pointing over to the table where the toppings were all splayed out.

Tony chuckled humorlessly and went over to hug Harley. "I take it it's your day to baby me?" he asked bluntly.

Harley shrugged, "I guess, but I was also planning on spending the day with you anyway since I don't have any classes so I guess it works out for everyone," Harley covered.

Though it wasn't really a lie. Harley always had everything on his calendar planned perfectly around the week of the 10th of August. Though he couldn't always get around classes and sometimes shifts at the café were hard to bail on, he always made sure to have at least two days completely free for his dad.

"Yeah," Tony sighed sadly. "Sorry I'm such a downer, bud. You could be off with friends right now and instead your here, trying to make your old man feel better."

Harley snorted and leaned over to grab Tony a plate from the glass cabinet, putting one of the better crepes on the plate for him.

"I'm not so great with friends, ya know? I look like that one fuck boy roaming around school which means I should be able to fit in fine, but whenever someone tries to talk to me I always stutter or say something dorky and they think I'm weird." Harley shrugged as he flipped the crepe. "And I'm fine with that, really. I'm a smart person and if that makes me an idiot dork in their eyes, it is what it is."

Harley laughed a real, joyful laugh and turned around to deliver the plate of freshly finished crepes, only to find Tony staring at him with the saddest expression Harley has ever come across.

"Um, dad? Tony? What's- what's going on? Is everything ok?" Harley asked cautiously, standing still in his spot.

"Sorry.." Tony looked away with a small smile and Harley didn't know if it was fake or not. "You just remind me so much of him."

Harley flushed and ducked his head. How do you react to that? Your father saying you reminded then of their dead kind-of brother? Do you say thank you? Is that an insult?

Before Harley could figure out how to properly respond, Tony spoke again.

"He was just so unbothered by others opinions of him. So carefree in such a judgment bound world. Dorkiest person I knew, actually liked the first few Star Wars movies." Tony laughed softly again and turned away from Harley finally. "Sorry, I know, I'm being weird. I'll stop," he sighed dejectedly.

"No, no," Harley was quick to reassure as he set down the crepes and sat in the chair next to Tony's. "I've just.. Pepper's said that before, said I almost look like him too, but I never thought you would say it because, well.." Harley cleared his throat. "It's just one of the best compliments I've ever gotten."

Tony smiled again and looked back up at Harley, ruffling his hair. "Yeah?"

Harley nodded and allowed himself to smile as well. This was possibly the best morning of his life, which was weird considering he failed at making two omelets, got up at 5 am to make breakfast for his family of earlier risers, and hadn't even had a spoonful of Nutella yet.

—————

Breakfast came and went, the two girls of the family coming down about five minutes after Harley and Tony finished talking. It was a nice breakfast, Tony was engaging in the conversation, smiling here and there. That was something, much better than Tuesday when he had a few rage fits.

And then, when Harley was done cleaning up breakfast, it was time to relax by the lake. Since dinner went on for almost an hour and Harley waited almost an hour being he finally got around to cleaning the dishes he used, it was now somewhere about 9:30. The sun was up, Pepper was on her run, and the lake was beautiful as ever.

Harley set up a few lawn chair in the grass, got Tony's one beer for the day, and the two sat. Just sat for awhile until Tony started talking, because Harley always left him talk first. 

"Before the snap, I threw Peter a sweet 16 party," Tony started, taking a drink of his water that he had next to him. "His friends Ned and MJ were the only ones there, along with me and his hot aunt. I offered him anything he wanted for the party. The Avengers to be there, for it to be in space, to go to the fricking White House. That little shit decided to go to a Star Wars convention."

Harley laughed at that, taking a drink of his strawberry lemonade.

"Now, to me it was just the worst place I could have ever been. Stinky teenagers and middle aged adults surrounded us everyone, the big rooms were hot because of body heat, and the lines for autographs took for-fucking-ever. But Peter just had the time of his life. Got a few t-shirts and a hat while he were on our way out and couldn't express how much fun he had while Ned was by his side, agreeing the whole way."

The story didn't end there. Tony could have gone on and on with that story until he got to the part where they got home and realized they forgot the t-shirt signed by Daisy Ridley back at the convention building. 

But Tony was getting teary eyed much sooner than he thought and so he took a large gulp of his beer and let the tears fall.


End file.
